A Path Apart
by GunnSmyte
Summary: When the Strawhats stop for supplies, they encounter a stranger with decent fighting skills. They take him prisoner until he can pay for the damage he's caused, and before he knows it, he's sailing away with the pirates! Possible eventual Yaoi, pairings currently unknown. Rated M just in case.


Author's Note: Welcome! I decided to post some of my older works of fiction, in hopes that some stray comment, fave or review would spark an interest in writing more for the stories. This story has a few original characters, and deviates from the traditional plot. Please enjoy, and feel free to comment, fave or review!

The Thousand Sunny was docked at a small, friendly summer island. The jolly roger had been taken down so that the locals, famous for driving away pirates, would allow them to dock. The pantry was in dire need of restocking, or else the Strawhats could have to face catching scurvy and other malnutrition disorders. With a strict order to not attract much attention, Nami divvied up the shopping money and sent everyone off, with Sanji and Brooke shopping for food, Chopper and Robin grabbing medical supplies, Usopp grabbing building and mechanical supplies, and Nami finding a replacement set of clothes for everyone, since almost every piece of clothing on the ship had holes in it.

Left behind to protect the ship were Luffy, Zoro and Franky. With Luffy in the crow's nest and Franky analyzing the latest damage to the ship, Zoro was left in peace to practice his forms. Chopper had yet to clear him for weight training since his latest set of injuries, but as he wasn't aboard at the moment, he couldn't stop Zoro from practicing a few forms. Picking up Wado Ichimonji and unsheathing it, he relaxed and let his mind empty itself. Suddenly, he felt an unfamiliar presence that was way too close for comfort. Doing a quick roll to his other two swords, he armed himself and stood ready to face the intruder standing in the middle of their gangplank.

"Who are you?!", Zoro yelled, glaring menacingly. A young man was standing there, putting his hands up in a silent gesture of surrender. His golden eyes looked startled, but there was a toughness in his stance that suggested a lack of surprise and some prior fighting experience.

"Whoa there! I was jus' watchin' you practice! Nothin' to get touchy about- you're the best I ever seen!", the man said, running a hand through his messy bangs. His hair was a vivid pink, and it was pulled back in a low ponytail that ran almost to his shoulder blades. He wore a red short-sleeved shirt unbuttoned over a white tank with a pair of close-fitting jeans that stopped mid-calf above his heavy brown boots. He spoke with a thick, twangy accent.

"Why are you on our ship?!", Zoro yelled back, just as menacing as before. The man grinned sheepishly.

"I-I wanted t' take a closer look, is all... Guess I should'a asked first, huh..", the man said, trailing off in embarrassment.

"Get outta here! This isn't some circus act; it's our ship!", Zoro said, sheathing two of his swords and taking Wado out of his mouth. Suddenly the man's eyes widened, and before Zoro could blink he was halfway between Zoro and where he had stood before. Zoro put Wado back and drew his other two swords, moving to attack this intruder.

"Is that Wado?!", the man yelled, barely dodging Zoro's first strike. Zoro's eyes widened, then narrowed.

"How do you know that name?!", he roared, attacking again. This time, the pink-haired man caught all three swords with two small blades he supported with the thumb and pinky of each hand.

'This guy...How did he..?', Zoro thought. The man broke his own block and slid backwards, arms up in a defensive pose.

"I don' wanna fight, but I really wanna take a look at that blade! Jus' for a few minutes- I promise I'll give it back!", the man said, his voice taking on a pleading tone at the end. Zoro growled, and attacked again. The man was barely able to dodge, getting more than a few nicks and scrapes from the flurry of attacks Zoro launched. He was finally able to knock Zoro back and take a quick break, huffing and puffing from the effort.

"Look, the other two are useless now- how about jus' lettin' me take a look at Wado? Pleeeease?", the pink-haired man whined.

'Useless? I'll show him useless!', Zoro thought and made to charge. At that instant, he heard the chiming of metal hitting metal, and suddenly his hands were light. He could see shards of metal falling to the ground- shards that had once been the swords in his hands. Zoro saw red.

"Hey Zoro, what's going on down there?", Luffy yelled, jumping down from the crows nest. What he found when he landed was that Zoro had impaled a young pink-haired man on his sword. The man had started to dodge, but not fast enough, and had been pierced through the shoulder with a shot that had been meant for his heart. The man had grasped Wado's hilt, and was preventing Zoro from moving it to attack again. He coughed a little, blood running out of his mouth.

"Y-Yeah, this is Wado, alright... It's got the mark of Brandocino on it.. One of the best swords ever m-made...", the man said, smiling as he finally got a look at the sword.

"Zoro! Why'd you stab this guy?! Is he trying to steal our meat? You could've told him we don't have any left!", Luffy exclaimed.

"This bastard broke Shuusui and Sandai Kitetsu... That witch is gonna be livid when I ask for more money!", Zoro said, glaring and finally pulling Wado free from the man's shoulder.

It was at this moment that Zoro noticed Nami had returned from her shopping. "What did you say?!", she screeched, smacking Zoro over the head. As Zoro and Nami descended into bickering, Luffy took it upon himself to greet the intruder.

"Hi, I'm Monkey D. Luffy!", Luffy said, "I'm the captain of this ship. Nice to meet you!"

"Uh, h-hi," the man wheezed, suppressing a cough and wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, "I'm Martelli Lanza. I'm a blacksmith here." He coughed and clutched his shoulder in pain.

Luffy laughed and slapped Lanza on the back. "Don't worry, you'll be okay. This kind of stuff happens all the time!", Luffy said grinning. Nami and Zoro's arguing got louder as Nami started to yell.

"You idiot! Do you know how much it'll cost to replace those?! And that's IF they've got anything like that on this island. I'm gonna add the cost of the swords to your debt, at 500 percent interest! I'll make it hurt so much that your grandchildren will still be paying me!", Nami shouted.

"Not like it was my fault! This bastard showed up on the gangplank and was acting weird! I was just protecting the ship!", Zoro shouted back.

"By breaking your swords before stabbing him?", Nami retorted.

"I told you, HE broke them!", Zoro yelled, pointing to Lanza.

At this, a fuming Nami turned on Lanza. "You...", she growled out, a dark aura forming around her. Lanza felt a sudden chill, and turned to face her. "You cost us a ton... Did you have any idea how much it'll cost to replace those?!", she hit him over the head, "And that's if we can even find anything good on this island!" She sighed. "I'm billing you for the cost of the swords plus a 20% replacement fee. And Zoro...", Nami smirked, "I'm still adding half the cost of the swords to your debt for any trouble finding them."

"U-um... That may not be necessary..", Lanza said, wheezing and shuffling towards Nami.

"The hell it isn't! You're causing us a hell of a lot of trouble, and you're gonna pay for it!", Nami said angrily.

"What I mean is... I'm the island's blacksmith. I might could fix them swords if ya take out the 20% restockin' fee... Seein' as how the nicer I make 'em, the more I end up payin' ya...", Lanza said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"You could do that?! That's so cool!", Luffy yelled, tackling Lanza to the ground. Lanza winced as his shoulder hit the ground. His fall left a bloody smudge on the deck. 'Didn't notice it bleedin' that much..', he thought to himself, dragging himself to his feet with the help of the railing.

"Uh, guys? It's been fun and all, but I think I gotta leave now...", Lanza said, coughing up blood. "Would any o' you be willin' to help me to the doc's house? Not sure I can make it myself..."

"You can just wait 'til Chopper comes back! He'll fix you up!", Luffy said with a smile. Nami sighed in irritation.

"You should probably sit down. Don't try to talk anymore, either. I'll try to find Chopper and tell him to get back here.", Nami said, walking briskly back toward the town.

She found the young reindeer quickly, as he had been on his way back to the Sunny with Robin, arms piled high with boxes of medical supplies.

"Hey, hurry back! Zoro stabbed this guy who owes us money, and he needs fixed up so he doesn't die before he can pay!", Nami said quickly, moving to take some of the boxes Chopper was carrying so he could move faster.

"Oh no!", Chopper yelled, setting the boxes down quickly and switching to Walk Point. Chopper ran so fast he looked like he was trying to break the sound barrier. He made it back to the ship in less than a minute, and after five seconds of catching his breath started barking orders.

"Luffy, open the door to the sick bay! Zoro, carry him-", Chopper shouted in one quick burst. By this time, Franky had pulled himself away from the workshop to investigate what was happening on deck and had just emerged.

"Hey, what's going on up he-", Franky interrupted, then stopped as he was given an order as well.

"-carefully! Franky, get a tub of warm water and a washcloth! Luffy, get the bandages!", Chopper continued to shout as he darted into the sick bay and started gathering the medical tools he would need.

"What'd I miss?!", Franky yelled loudly.

"This guy came on board but Zoro stabbed him, and now Nami wants this man to pay up, or else she's gonna charge Zoro a whole ton of money!", Luffy yelled excitedly. Franky nodded calmly, 'That sounds about right...'

Soon Chopper had Lanza all bandaged up. Barely any of his skin was showing from his waist, to his neck, all the way down to his wrists.

"Thankya doc, I feel much better!", Lanza says, smiling at the reindeer.

"Bastard, that doesn't make me happy!", Chopper yells, startling his patient.

"S-sorry..", Lanza said quietly, "Didn't mean to upset ya...", he said, getting up and heading for the door. "I've caused you all enough trouble for today. I think I'll be headin' out-"

"Oh no you don't!", yells Nami, blocking the door. She and Robin got back to the ship while Chopper was patching up Lanza, and had moved the supply boxes into the sick bay. She had been biding her time before springing her trap.

"Wha-?", Lanza starts to ask.

"No way you're leaving here before you pay us back! How do I know you're not going to skip town the second you get off this ship?!", Nami says.

"But-", Lanza tries to interrupt.

"No buts! You're staying here tonight, and we'll get your stuff tomorrow so you can fix Zoro's swords. Until you're done, we won't let you out of our sight.", Nami demands. Lanza just hangs his head and cooperates as Nami signals Franky to take him to the small brig that had been built in for this type of purpose.

After being handed a small plate of dinner and several hours of sleep, Lanza was taken out of the cell for a quick breakfast before grabbing his stuff.

"Let's go!", says Franky, gesturing toward the gangplank.

"Uh, you know... There ain't no way I can do my work here on the ship...", Lanza says apologetically.

"WHAT?!", chorused Zoro, Nami and Usopp, who was slightly irate from pulling the prisoner duty night shift.

"Y'see... It's no easy thing t' make a sword, much less two... An' it takes jus' the right size of fire and jus' the right type o' metal to get it all right. Can't build a good fire here without the whole ship goin' up with it, y'know?", Lanza explains carefully.

"Why didn't you say so in the first place? I can make a great furnace for you, and the flames will be just SUPAA~!", Franky yells, doing his trademark pose.

"Are you sure? You all could come with me an' keep an eye on me while I work, bring me back in the evenin' so I don't go runnin' off...", Lanza offered, trying to bother the crew as little as possible.

"No way! A giant furnace is just what this ship needs!", Franky replies emphatically.

"If that's what ya want...", Lanza replies.

Lanza leads Franky and Zoro to his workshop, and they move all of his tools and metals to the Thousand Sunny. He hadn't had many tools to begin with, and most of the tools he had gained since starting his own smithy were incredibly useful and hard to come by. The metals he had in his shop were mainly used for small repair jobs, but he had a stash of high-quality iron and steel for his own forging practice. He also grabbed the few things he had- a leather apron, a set of heavy leather gloves, his three sets of clothing, his journal and his bedroll. 'Now I won't have to worry about getting all sweaty, or sleep on that damn wooden bench!'

After moving everything to the ship, Lanza arranged his stuff on the deck while Franky worked on the furnace. Once everything was in order, he spent his time getting buckets of pure water for his quenching barrel. After that, there was really nothing else for him to do but wait. He waited, and waited, and waited, until he couldn't help but fall asleep. And suddenly, he was awoken from his nap by a loud cry.

"MARINES!"

Brooke raised a warning cry as soon as he made out what the ships on the horizon were.

"MARINES!", Brooke yelled, "Marines on the horizon!"

And before Lanza knew what was happening, the Sunny had set sail and the island was a quarter-mile behind them.

"Wha... Where are we going?!", Lanza yelled.

"We got marines after us, so we gotta go! Maybe if they catch up we'll fight!", said Luffy with a wide grin.

"Wait... Marines?", Lanza said, finally putting the puzzle pieces together. "You're... You're pirates, ain'tcha..", he said, startled. Amid the hustle and bustle on the deck, Lanza was the only thing not moving. He started to shake. "I.. I got captured... by -pirates-.."he said, and looked up at the crew with contempt. "There's NO way I'm makin' them swords. Ya may as well toss me into the sea, cuz I'm not."

"WHAT?! What do you mean! We had a deal, dammit!", yelled Nami as she steered the ship. Cannon fire erupted from the water on the port side.

"I think this isn't the best time to discuss it... Blacksmith-san is not going anywhere soon. We can settle this once the marines are gone.", Robin said reasonably.

Nami huffed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Franky, prepare the Coup de Burst!" A few seconds later, they heard Franky's countdown, and were sent hurtling through the air away from danger.


End file.
